duty cycle

duty cycle

(1) A machine's rated capacity to continuously perform work under normal conditions. It generally applies to mechanical devices such as printers, in which case it would indicate the number of pages that can be printed per month without a problem.

(2) The ratio of a device operating versus cooling down. An 80% duty cycle means that it is capable of running 80% of a specified time period and turned off for the remainder.

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duty cycle [′düd·ē ‚sī·kəl]

(communications)

The product of the pulse duration and pulse repetition frequency of a pulse carrier, equal to the time per second that pulse power is applied. Also known as duty factor.

(electronics)

duty ratio

(engineering)

The time intervals devoted to starting, running, stopping, and idling when a device is used for intermittent duty.

The ratio of working time to total time for an intermittently operating device, usually expressed as a percent. Also known as duty factor.

(metallurgy)

The percentage of time that current flows in equipment over a specific period during electric resistance welding.

(nucleonics)

The fraction of time during which a pulsed accelerator beam is on target, usually expressed as a percent. Also known as duty factor.